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Party skirt for Princess Gabrielle

You may have seen me whinging (and crying) on Twitter about this skirt. And now I’m looking at it I really am bemused by how a tiny skirt for a 3 year old could have given me so much jip!

The skirt is made from 3 layers of the most atrrocious fabric: Purple polyester satin for the underskirt, purple soft netting to add poofiness in the middle, and a top layer of glittery pinky-purple stretch tulle… with an off grain ribbed effect which was already stretched out of shape.

So the first issues began with the cutting. Purple polyester all cool apart from the fuzzy fraying threads that combined when handled to form a faux cobweb mass much like you’d buy for decoration at halloween. I was covered in the stuff and even the cats managed to get it wrapped round their chops and were in a right old pickle till I unwound it from their teeth!

I telephoned my mum to ask for some advice on cutting the netting and tulle and she advised to measure and run a line of pins as markers. Great advice but I can’t tell you just how many pins I picked up from the floor afterwards! You have to weave them in and out or else they just drop out!

And lastly and most annoyingly that glittery stretchy nightmare stuff. Because it had a horizontal ribbing, I thought it would be a doddle to cut but nooooo. It was all wonky and stretched from the outset. I’m not entirely happy with the edge to this layer but hey its going to be on a twirling whirling 3 year old party girl who’ll be boinging on a massive pink inflatable castle for most of the day so I think it might go unnoticed!

Now I wasn’t going to admit to the most stupid mistake I made. Because I still can’t believe I was that stupid but hey. We all learn from them….

When I’d finished… or when I thought I’d finished… I thought the waistband was looking a bit too bulky and however much I trimmed the inside elastic, it still came up bigger than the intended 50cm. A lot of head scratching, a goodnights sleep and a eureka moment revealed that I’d cut the waistband not 2x the waist measurement but 4x the waist measurement. I’d measured the strip with it folded, like a complete dingbat!!! Here’s the evidence:

I did laugh at myself, through the tears. I have been so busy with work this week and I’m amazed I actually got any sewing done. But I’m so glad I did. Gabrielle’s birthday party is tomorrow and I can’t wait to see the photos of her wearing her princess skirt. I’m sure they will make for better viewing than the above! Watch this space 🙂

15 thoughts on “Party skirt for Princess Gabrielle”

Awww, skirt is adorable! Yes, I can imagine how satin and netting would be difficult to sew. I’ve not sewn with any kind of netting before and can’t say I want to try. Looks too dangerous (catches, pulls, skipped stitches), but this came out great. I’m sure she’ll love it. 🙂

Thanks, lovely. As I was sewing it I did recall saying “remind me never to use this stuff again!” But It’s a bit like childbirth. I got hugely distracted and taken in by the end product and have agreed to make a prom dress in much the same way, for my neighbours daughter! Glutton for punishment, me!

Netting and tulle are so annoying to work with. I feel with you! I remember what a pain in the ass my petticoat was. But the end-result looks lovely, and I’m sure the recipient will just love it. All the twirling she’ll be able to do!

Your skirt is adorable! I just made my soon to be 13 year old daughter jammies with the shiny silky fabric, a layer of tulle on top, and appliqued pic of princess Aurora for her sleep over birthday party. I just may need to make up one of these skirts for her for party day.
Your daughter is going to love this! ~Kerrielee

Ha! I can so relate… my friend bought a long skirt and wanted some help shortening it. I said, “No problem, we can get this done in a jiffy!” Well a couple hours later, because of the slick fabric we finally got it accomplished, but it was a pretty rough job to say the least. How do we get ourselves into these predicaments anyway?
I bet the little skirt recipient loves it and is twirling as we speak! 🙂
Beth

That thing with the elastic is exactly the kind of thing that i do. At least you were able to fix it. It is so pretty! This is just the kind of thing my three year old would love, in fact I shut the lid of my laptop so she wouldn’t see it because I have too many projects on the go at the moment. Maybe for her birthday, although I will take on board your warnings about the fabric.